Gold Butte Backcountry Byway

4.4/5 (8 reviews)
Mesquite, Nevada (Clark County)
Last Updated: 10/28/2021

Trail Information

Highlights

The Gold Butte Backcountry Byway offers a glimpse into Southern Nevada’s most beautiful landscapes and the history of the Anasazi and Paiute Indians, as well as early American Miners. The Gold Butte Backcountry Byway is built from historic mining roads and cattle trails that wind its way through the hills and washes of the Gold Butte country. You'll enjoy some great views and plenty of opportunities to see desert wildlife, ancient petroglyphs, sinkholes and red and white sandstone formations with Lake Mead and the Muddy Mountains off to the west.

Trail Difficulty and Assessment

Trail Navigation

Trail Reviews

4.4/5 (8 reviews)
Open
Rated 3/5
Visited: 01/27/2022
Difficulty Accuracy: Easier

Camped on this trail and ran it clockwise in a few hours. The east side down to Gold Butte is pretty fast graded road, the west half is a little slower. Views were excellent, but Gold Butte wasn't as interesting as I hoped it would be. Worth checking out if you're in the area but maybe not a destination.
Official Crew
59900
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 10/28/2021
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Spent a few days in Gold Butte at the end of a run through the Arizona Strip. Great area! Plenty of camping. Found Falling Man, hiked Little Finland, camped at the old Gold Butte townsite, and lots of other fun things.
Open
Rated 4/5
Visited: 03/27/2021

Nice area to explore. The roads are well maintained with some areas more rocky than others. The “paved” road getting in seemed worse than the trail. 4x4 is not needed but being air down will make the ride a lot more comfortable. We spent the weekend out here with one night at little Finland and the other at devils cove. Little Finland was very cool and is a must see. We got there right before sunset and the red rock really popped. Gold butte town was something to check out but not much to see. Seven key hole is another must see and worth the short hike. Whitney pocket seemed a little crowded but would be nice to camp and have a great view of the rock formations. Anyway, I recommend checking this place out.
600
Open
Visited: 01/19/2020

This is a great all day trip. You need to allow yourself extra time if you want to do some of the extra offshoot trails rather than just the loop itself. All the roads were in great condition. So many different types of typography all in one trail. We went clockwise leaving from Riverside/Bunkerville and the GPX was very handy as we almost missed how to come back the right way that comes out by Devils Throat.
Official Crew
66500
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 11/23/2019

This is an absolutely beautiful area to explore. We pretty much ran this entire route expect for coming in through Lime Kiln Canyon. The trail was pretty much a gravel road the entire route and all the side trails we hit were really easy. This area is remote, like really remote and no one else is around. If you're goal is get away from people, then this is the place to go. We found a couple extra petroglyph sites that weren't marked on any maps so keep your eyes out while traveling through the washes.

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